Yesterday the first media source which reported that a cruise passenger went overboard from Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas was Cruise Critic. Notwithstanding its name, Cruise Critic is not remotely a critic of the cruise industry. It's one of the cruise lines greatest fans and supporters. It will publish cruise line PR statements without question or hesitation.

When Cruise Critic broke the story, Royal Caribbean's PR department had already fed Cruise Critic a statement claiming that another passenger witnessed the 21-year-old American go overboard at about 9:25 p.m. EDT. "The ship's Captain immediately stopped the ship, turned around, and alerted the U.S. and Bahamian Coast Guard," read the cruise line statement.

The next time entry mentioned by Cruise Critic was 3:30 a.m., when the U.S. Coast Guard assumed control of the search and released the Allure of the Seas as well as Carnival's Fascination and Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas cruise ships which had joined in the search for the missing woman.

The impression created by Royal Caribbean and its friends at Cruise Critic was that Royal Caribbean "immediately" notified the proper authorities and "immediately" searched the waters for the young woman and that the search lasted six hours from 9:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. until the Coast Guard released the cruise ship to continue with itinerary.

What Cruise Critic didn't mention was that, based on an article in the Sun Sentinel newspaper, Royal Caribbean was notified of the 9:25 p.m.overboard at 9:30 a.m. but the cruise line delayed two hours until 11:30 p.m. before notifying the U.S. Coast Guard. The Sun Sentinel article was based on comments directly from the U.S. Coast Guard.

But no other news sources mentioned the two hour delay; instead, CNN, Miami Herald, CBSFOX News, and others published the false and misleading cruise line statement that Royal Caribbean "immediately" stopped the cruise ship and notified both the U.S. and Bahamian Coast Guards following the 9:25 p.m. incident.

Coast Guard regulations and the requirements of most cruise ship safety management systems (SMS) required by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) state that the vessel must notify the Coast Guard and other vessels in the vicinity if the overboard person is not "immediately" located in the water. Once a man overboard is reported, most SMS cruise line policies require a prompt reduction of speed of the ship, a "Williams Turn" to head the ship back to the location of the overboard person, the deployment of extra look-outs, the use of spotlights, and preparation to deploy life craft. While this is happening the captain can order a muster and head count if there is any doubt about whether a passenger went overboard.

It is inexplicable that the cruise ship would sail on if an eye witness reported the overboard to the cruise line at 9:30 p.m. Two hours later, the ship would be 30 - 40 miles away not even considering the effect of the current on the person overboard. The chances of drowning would increase substantially and the search area would increase dramatically due to the delay.

The Allure is the world's largest cruise ship with 5,400 passengers and 2,300 crew members aboard. A search of this huge ship would take many hours. Did the cruise line really ignore the man overboard report and sail away? Why search the ship or order a muster and head count if an eye witness saw the woman go overboard as initially reported? It is against basic maritime protocols.

In cases like this, wild speculation follows a delayed rescue attempt. Was this a suicide, foul play or the results of excessive serving of alcohol?

I don't believe that people wanting to commit suicide take the time and incur the expense of booking a cruise, buying an airplane ticket, packing a big suitcase, and then flying across the U.S. to South Florida for a week long cruise to the Caribbean with the thought of killing themselves.

But readers commenting on the cruise message boards at cruise fan sites like Cruise Critic have already labeled the case a suicide or 100% her fault for partying. Sites like Cruise Critic perpetuate the cruise line's misleading PR campaign by ignoring the cruise line's two hour delay and then letting its readers assassinate the woman's character.

Unfortunately, there is no independent police authorities onboard cruise ships to gather the true facts and conduct an objective and timely investigation. Cruise lines investigations are often conducted with the cruise line's reputation and legal interests in mind.

This is a real disservice to families of missing passengers who need transparency in such a time of despair.

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Comments (5)Read through and enter the discussion with the form at the end

Mike -
September 18, 2012 9:03 PM

Who is to say such a magnitude of ship needs to babysit its 5400+ passengers 24 hrs a day when the degree of responsibility rests upon a fully matured 21 year old adult who signs a waiver to act responsible and abide by the rules of the "contract of carriage"? Negligence is not with the cruise line until the burden of proof is solidifed that the fault of this incident was its own.
If I may add (in my opinion)....the Captain fufilled his responsibility immediately upon notification of the incident. I commend him for taking action (as well as the US Coast Guard and other vessels who assisted out of jurisdiction in an unremediated rescue effort)as quickly as they could when such incident finally was "reported by a fellow passenger" (per the media's speculation)

Your comment about "negligence is not with the cruise line until the burden is solidified that the fault of this incident was its own" is nonsensical.

The Captain waited 2 hours to notify the Coast Guard in gross violation of the Coast Guard regulations, the International Maritime (IMO) recommendations and the cruise line's own protocols.

Jim Walker

Lorein -
September 18, 2012 10:40 PM

Well let me tell you about the man who wanted to jump overboard on new years eve on a ship sailing from Australia.... and in my years at sea I saw that and more, so yes people do buy a ticket, pack a bag and pay for a cruise to kill themselves, cos to even have that thought u are not well in your mind so u dont think straight so no doubt that they think about doing it at sea.

Tom -
September 19, 2012 8:10 PM

Jim,

Do you have any proof that the captain waited 2 hours. I know you showed a link to that one article but all the other articles didn't mention such a delay? Do you have direct proof from the Coast Guard? I don't see how it would benefit the captain to delay such a call.

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